Earthbound
by teeceecee
Summary: He was distant, as far as the stars were from the earth, like a spectator in heaven...untouchable, like a million floating universes, spinning rigidly in his own axis. It was an accident, a wayward Flume that opened up to this far distant universe - spell bounding, strange...different. And that was when he caught sight of her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! This idea just came to me one day while I was reading and I thought, hey, this sounds like a really interesting concept to eke out :) Hope you guys enjoy this. Warning! This is unbeta-ed so I'm sorry if there's any typos or misused grammar here. Feedback is always appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own either Jack Frost or Rapunzel. They both belong to Disney and Dreamworks respectively. If I did owe them though, I'd totally make them canon - just saying.**

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_A Guardians' duty is to the Flumes, to his kin and to the life beyond, extending under his care...relying on his compassion, steady on his own core understanding._

_-A Time Guardian's age old adage_

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He was distant, as far as the stars were from the earth, like a spectator in heaven, watching down benevolently from his high seat among the constellations. He was untouchable, like a million floating universes, spinning rigidly in his own axis. He was also cold, abandoned to his own devices for the past hundred thousands of years, left to walk in his own path, away from any being in the whole entire universe – not just one universe but millions of them.

He had seen it all, had seen millions of wars raged on in different planets, in different continents whose name most of us can't even pronounce, let alone comprehend. He floats like a ghostly figure, invisible but all watching, enraptured by the inhabitant's capacity to love, to live and to fight. He had seen millions of planets explode from its own internal pressure, watched as every being took its last breath but he would never intercede, never lift a finger to help for he was damned to watch, to do nothing but watch as millions died all around him.

Then he would open a time Flume and replay the entire scene again, observing things that he had missed. He would watch as parents and offspring's ran, their hands – projectiles, claws, whatever they had to hold – clasp between them like an unbreakable chain of bonding. He had never felt that before, no one had ever held his hand.

He would then watch as their home planet collapsed upon itself, tearing parent from child, a heart from its home away, into the endless void that was destruction.

He would simply move on, find another planet to observe and if he was curious enough with that planet, he would open a second Flume, simply to see what time held in store for this floating plethora of rock, gas and liquid pressure. It was mostly, if not always, destruction.

He faintly remembered his name, remembered who he was before some mysterious being placed him in the centre of the Universe, with a key to travel between dimensions and time pockets. They were enshrouded in shadow; they took him up from death's doorstep and gave him a name. He couldn't remember what his name was but it was a name.

Despite being cold, distant and calculating, he yearned - yearned for someone to talk to, yearned for someone to elevate his loneliness even if they just caught his eye. He yearned for someone to tell him that he wasn't invisible, that he wasn't just a fractured fixture in this existence that he was worthy of being seen. That he was worthy of being loved.

That was when he caught sight of her.

It was an accident, a wayward Flume that opened up to this far distant universe. Upon stepping out of the time pocket, he had known that something was different in this system. That something completely foreign was lingering in this universe, something he had never seen from his visit to other systems.

He followed the trail, letting his instinct lead him. The voice in his head that sounded so much like him but not at all like him whispered to open another Flume, this time over a planet called…Earth?

He scratched his head but followed the voice's instruction and came upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. It was a world full of color, full of traditions, cultures that he had never thought he could comprehend.

All of it was amazing, sensorial, beyond his imagination.

He looked down at the inhabitants, ignoring their suffering and focusing on their relationships with one another. He saw strange flesh toned creatures with five projectile digits for hands, walking with various people whom they shared a bond with.

He could see parents with their children, partners bonded for life, some of them barely bonded, and some standing on the threshold of being bonded. He could see companions, walking by with gale laughter trailing, expressions of care and love so blatantly written on their faces he wondered if any of these strange beings have ever died for love. Died because of love.

Love…that was the foreign feeling he had felt when he first stepped into Earth's Flume.

It was all disconcerting and vaguely overwhelming.

Among all the planets he had seen, this one was the most personal, the most interactive one he had ever came upon. It seemed as if the inhabitants themselves relied on this strange power…this strange feeling call love.

He spent the next few weeks here on this wonderful, alien planet, watching their inhabitants interacting among each other, feeling their emotions hit his heart with a gleeful vibe. He stared wistfully at them, knowing he was on the cusp of obsession, of feeling this wonderful emotion he previously hadn't known.

This love.

He had to force himself to look away after the third week, preparing to open a Flume when he heard it. From his perch on a balcony he could hear that someone was crying.

After being showed this amazing emotional revelation of a planet so wrapped around its inhabitants that one race couldn't survive without the other, he found it slightly fearful that someone would be sad, _could_ be sad.

He drifted from his position and towards an open window. There was a young woman in there, her hands clutched around a faded photograph. It was a picture of her and another young man, both of their arms wrapped around each other.

"Why did you have to go," she sniffed softly, as if testing the words before she could admit it was real. "Why did you have to go and leave me here, Eugene?"

Her hands traced the man's face, carefully, her finger lightly touching his brilliant smile.

"I told you not to drive too fast but you would never listen."

He was struck by her soft words, of the raw pain in the back of her voice that he couldn't help it. He placed the tips of fingers against her temple, barely a brush and edged her memories from her mind.

He saw flashing lights, a loud piercing sound that induced fear in the very fibers of his heart and a dead body. The dead body had a face resembling the man in the photograph.

He pulled away, gasping for air and for the first time, really took in this woman.

She was slim, her age a diminutive against his, a fraction so small she could have barely seen a smidgen of what he had seen. Her large, bright green eyes were filled with…tears – wasn't what that strange emotional fluid was called? – And more of them traced a faint track down her cheeks. Her hair was the unusual but almost common gold that most women from the west and north of this planet had but there was something about it that glimmered in the faint light of the dingy apartment.

Her threadbare sweater hung against her thin frame and she wore nothing but shorts underneath it. He felt his face heating up but he wasn't sure why. This was the first time he had ever reacted this way when faced with Earth's inhabitants. That thought was scary and left him breathless.

For one, out worldly moment, the woman recoiled from his touch…as if she had felt him. Her eyes scanned the area in front of her, the place where he was crouched, with fearful trepidation. He wanted to call out to her, to ask if she could see him but hesitated.

He quickly opened another Flume before he could do something foolish, something that one of the inhabitants of this young planet would probably do. He forced his heart to let go of its strange attachment to this planet and faced the bleak darkness of another endless void that lead to nowhere in this forsaken space.

He tried to put the image of her tears out of his head and for a moment he was successful, having thought he left behind the imprint of that planet and its people.

He never expected to get the image of those bright green eyes stuck in his mind for the next uncountable period of time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, it wasn't what I expected but thanks to those who supported this story :) Let's exceed this author's expectation and continue _reviewing! :_D**

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_**My mind is running empty, In the search for someone else, Who doesn't look right through me...**_

_**-Astronaut; Simple Plan**_

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He missed Earth that much was obvious. He missed its sight and sounds, the different variety of people living there and most of all he missed her. Well, not exactly that woman but he missed the opportunity he had to finally call out to a being, to confirm whether his whole existence solely relied on him to be invisible or if he could be felt, could be seen, could be heard.

The lost opportunity ached in the depths of his chest, torturing him with reminders of what could have been.

Vaguely, he wondered if the rest of the Flume Guardians, his far distant brethren, had ever felt this strange attachment to a single planet.

He knew the answer even before he had asked it. The rest of them would probably say that he was young, inexperienced, still holding onto the ties of his past life.

But that was the thing; he couldn't remember his past life, exactly.

Another image flashed in his mind, of the same woman again, this time, the picture was accompanied with a smile as he pictured how she would look like happy. He shook his head; this madness was getting out of hand.

And yet…

The desire – the urge to feel what those special humans felt was so strong in him he felt like he would cry if he did not, at least, experience what they experienced once.

In fact, the urge was so strong that he opened the nearest Earth Flume, travelling back to the one place where he couldn't help being.

It was a different era than the one he had previously been in. It was an era of developing machinery for Earth, where the economy turned the tide towards metal work and auto development. But the location where the Flume leads him was quaint, framed with greenery and opened up to a sprawling wide field with children playing upon its grassy surface.

This place was obviously untouched by the rapid civilization for he could make out sheep in the nearby field and stables nearby, adjoining to rickety wooden houses. The children of this time were dressed simply in peasant smocks, worn breeches and stained tunics.

A group of them ran past him, oblivious to him standing right there, playing a game he remembered seeing in another distant planet. They were chasing after each other, laughing and giggling, the younger ones occasionally emitting high shrieks when they were caught. Amongst them was an anomaly, a teenage boy, on the cusp of adulthood, chasing after his younger sibling while all around him, children younger than he was called out for him, asking him to play with them before he had to take care of the sheep.

The young man grinned and beckoned them to a nearby tree where he nimbly climbed the tree, hanging from its branches like a bat in a cave. The time Guardian was amused. It wasn't every day that he saw a young man willingly playing with his younger sister's friends when he had grown up work to do.

He continued staring, watching mesmerized as the Sheppard boy made them all laugh with his wayward antics, and for a brief moment he laughed too, caught up with the tricksters mischievous gaze. The time Guardian smiled, he knew he had found the right face to morph into.

He placed his cool hands on his face, willing his features to morph and transform into the young man's. He felt the contours of his cheek softened and knew that his silver white hair was being transitioned into the Sheppard boy's brown locks and his eyes burn, changing color from an Arctic blue to a warm brown.

Satisfied with his transformation, he opened another Flume, this one back to the present Earth and stepped through, leaving behind the merry laughter of the children.

He was back in the same city, with the same apartment in the background. His heart expanded, making him grin widely with elation. He had finally done it.

He was finally human.

His feet touched down on the pavement as he morphed his clothes into the recurring trend of simple jeans and t-shirt that he noticed most males on this planet, especially this country, seemed to prefer. Now, he needed a new name and was on the verge from recalling his old one when someone yelled, "Hey, Jack! We've got a problem with the delivery system…"

He turned and noticed a group of men, standing by a garishly yellow… he paused, unsure what that strange vehicle was. He knew that cars and bikes were common here on this planet, having gotten the information when he had lingered here for three weeks – a second, actually, compared to his unlimited space of time. He frowned but decided to take up that name, thinking it easy to remember and pronounce.

He took a tentative step, unsure how to move the way these people did but surprisingly, it was simple. He just had to resist the urge to turn his centre of gravity off and float, putting one foot in front of the other. He breathed a sigh of relief; so far things were going well.

The Flume Guardian – Jack – walked past a tinted window, stopping to glance at his reflection. The one thing that surprised him was how strikingly…normal he looked. Like an average human male, walking to college or maybe even work. He marveled at his reflection until a blond girl on the street looked up and caught his eye.

Jack's heart skipped, thinking it was her, but no, this girl was barely a woman and she was slighter than her. The girl's gaze slid from his to the front and with a jolt, he realized that she couldn't see him.

He ducked his head down and continued walking, unsure where he was going just that he was here for the time being. He tentatively placed his hands in his pockets – something he'd seen most guys do – and trudged down the bustling sidewalk, frowning.

He walked up to a short man holding a camera and tapped his shoulder. The man turned around with an expectant smile which turned into a confused gaze. His eyes roamed over Jack, not seeing and he shrugged, turning back to his camera.

In all his excitement, Jack had forgotten to think this possibility through.

That he was still invisible

Well, at least the first step of his crazy plan was executed.

The second seemed to him much harder – try to make that green eyed, fair head woman notice him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Big thanks to _ImagineDragonz7_ and _Ethir_ for your lovely reviews :') I just wanted to say even if I don't get the support that I envisioned, doesn't mean I still won't write for you guys :D Be warned, this chapter with induce feels...at least it did for me. Review, if you would! **

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_**Circling like a satellite, Sign post in the sky, look at me...**_

_**-Your Neighborhood Spaceman; Peeping Tom**_

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Jack was surprised to find that his ability to fly was still present as he hovered to her apartment, peering in to see if she was home. The lights were turned off, leaving the room in a growing darkness as he perched over the railing and waited.

He let his mind drift, thinking and musing, lost in the depths of his own thoughts. The sound of the lock turning came a second too late and her scream came earlier than he expected.

She was staring at him, slack jawed and wide eyed, all the color leaching from her face, turning her as white as bone. She stumbled back, clutching her bag to her chest like a shield, her face twisted in horror.

His eyes widened, breaths leaving in small puffs of agonizing anxiety. She could see him? She could _really _see him?

Jack got up from his perch on the railing and she shrieked again, advancing closer to him, her hand outstretched as if to catch him. He landed lightly on the floor of her balcony and twisted his lips into what he hoped was a smile.

She choked on half formed words, her hands shaking as she unlatched the glass doors.

"Wh-Who are you and h-h-how did you get up here?"

He raised his hands up in a placating gesture, begging her with his eyes not to run away. She stood rooted at the spot, her shock not quite ebbing off.

"My name's Jack," he said, his confidence trailing away once he found that he didn't know what else to say.

"Uh…hello, Jack," she replied, her jaw twitching.

"Again, I'll ask you, who are you and what do you w-want from me?" her voice was stronger now, her green eyes glowing dangerously.

"Um…I don't exactly know," Jack said hesitantly. "But I'm here."

She shook her head as if it made perfect sense and backed into the house. "I'm going to call the police now," she said, turning back and literally sprinting into a run.

"No!" Jack cried as he used the momentum of his flight to propel him across the room, catching her before she could lift up the receiver.

She screamed – a cry of absolute terror – and tried to push him off her.

"Please, don't hurt me, if you want my money I'll-"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Jack said, cocking his head to the side as if considering how crazy that idea was. "In fact, I never meant to hurt you."

Her eyes travelled from him to the balcony, calculating the distance. They widened, awe and trepidation lighting her gaze.

"Ho-How did you…"

"Fly?" Jack supplied for her. "Easy, I've been doing it ever since I was reborn."

Her lips shape around the word, mouthing it with fear and confusion. "Reborn? What the-"

"It's a long story," Jack said, his gaze roaming her apartment. He caught sight of the picture that had caused all this curiosity and walked to it. "Who's this?"

Her jaw quivered as she stood up gingerly, touching her scraped elbow. "That's m-my boyfriend," she stuttered.

"He was the one who passed away, didn't he?" he said, walking over to the framed photograph.

"H-How did y-you know –"

"I saw it, the other day when I came here," Jack replied mildly.

She stopped cold, her feet frozen to the carpeted floor. "So that was you?"

He turned back, shocked. "You could see me?"

She frowned, edging towards the kitchen slowly. The room adjoined with the living space together with a dining hall and small kitchenette.

"Yeah – well, not exactly, I felt y-you," she said, wondering what the hell had been put in her morning coffee to induce this madness.

Jack turned to hide his grin. So she had felt him, it wasn't just the trick of his imagination; she had really, truly felt his presence.

"I honestly thought you wouldn't see me and-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. A sharp, cracking pain resonated across his scalp, making his ears ring hollowly, like a chiming bell. He slid to his knees, clutching his aching head. Jack looked up through watery eyes to find her standing over him with a pan in her hand, looking horror stricken. He reached out a hand towards her and she seemed to snap, bringing the pan down again.

The darkness swarmed his vision even before he fell to the ground.

~~O~~O~~

Rapunzel breathed heavily, clutching the frying pan to her chest as if it depended on her life.

She had just hit somebody; she had just attacked and knocked a person out cold.

_This isn't happening,_ she tried to reason to herself. _When the coffee wears off, you'll wake up back in work, thinking that this is just a dream._

But it wasn't. This felt too real.

She glanced down at the unconscious man sprawled across the carpet, a throbbing swell starting to appear by his temple where she struck him. He was fairly young, about her age, with chocolate brown hair and a charming if not slightly handsome boyish face. She shook the strange thoughts out of her head, staggering over to him and took his hand in hers, searching for a pulse.

His heartbeat was weakened but at least it was there. She exhaled in relief and staggered to the floor, her knees giving out on her.

_Think, think,_ her mind urged as she looked around her room. An idea then struck her as she tried to lift his body from the floor. He was heavy but not as heavy as she had imagined. His form was slim and lithe, making his form manageable to carry and set down on the upholstered armchair.

She ran to the kitchen, searching for something that could be mobilize him there. Rapunzel pulled up a roll of duct tape, hidden behind a fruit bowl and grimaced. This would hurt him but at least it would keep him there, keep him strapped down until she decided what to do next.

Wrapping the tape around his wrists to the arms of the chair she sat vigilant on the opposite couch, waiting for him to awake. He groaned a moment later, neck lolling as he struggled to shake off the haze. His brown eyes blinked to consciousness, growing alarmed when he realized that his limbs were immobile.

"Why did you do that for?" he demanded, wincing when he moved his head.

Despite the situation, she felt immensely guilty for hurting him like this and gave him an apologetic stare. "Sorry, but it had to be done."

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you," he replied, defensive.

"Um, uh- I need answers, starting off with just who the hell you are," Rapunzel said, willing her voice to stop shaking.

He wrung his hands, eyes darting this way and that, looking for a way out. Finding none, he sighed, giving her a hard stare.

"My real name's not Jack, actually I have no idea what it is," he started, watching her expression carefully for any emotion. "I'm a Flume Guardian, at least, that's what we're call in your tongue."

"A Flume…_what?_"

"Guardian," he replied. "A key between every dimension."

"Wait, so what you're saying is that…you can time travel?" Rapunzel could hear how ridiculous she sounded.

"Not only that, we can open specific time pockets and look at a planets past or future."

She slumped against the couch, trying to wrap her head around all this.

"P-Planets? You mean in-"

"-different universes, yes," Jack finished for her, his brown eyes solemn.

"I thought that only happened in movies."

He looked confused. "What're movies?"

"Oh God," she groaned, covering her face with her palms.

Jack gave looked at her carefully, like how one would look at an conerred animal.

"Alright," Rapunzel replied, frowning. "Say I believe you, what would you be doing here when you could be…travelling between air pockets and stuff?"

He hesitated at this question. "Let's just say…I fell in love with this planet."

She was taken aback. In her over imaginative mind, she had imagined him trying to take over the world or more nobly, trying to save the world from an unavoidable destruction. This answer stumped her.

"You fell in love with _Earth?_" she asked dubiously.

"Yes."

She couldn't stop the next question from bursting forth from her lips. "Why?"

"Because…it's because I've never seen a species that relies on love, something that I have only heard of but never truly felt or seen in such a large capacity," he admitted. "Then I saw you in your apartment the other day, crying over that picture and I was…stunned. I was surprised that in a planet full of this emotion, someone could cry because of it."

He shrugged, the action causing his wrists to strain against his bonds. "I wanted to find out more so I came here, that's the story."

Rapunzel straightened in her seat, her thoughts going to Eugene. Her mind reeled her in before her heart could remember and she struggled to gain a hold on her scattering emotions.

"You've never…You have never, ever felt love?"

He shook his head, looking mildly curious. "No, not ever, and I wanted to see if I could - if you would help me."

"I still don't get why me," she mumbled.

Jack frowned, his expression puzzled. He muttered a, "Me too," quietly under his breath.

They stared at each other; lapsing into a silence so thick she could feel it suffocating her.

"Did you get all your answers yet?"

"Just one more," she replied, taking a steadying breath.

"Jack, how old are you, exactly?"

"About three hundred give or take," he replied, shrugging casually.

She exhaled, the breath shuddering through her chest and stared him in the eye.

"That's what I thought."

"You're pretty observant for a human being," he replied, a hint of haughtiness in his tone, eyes twinkling bright. "And you rather surprise me…Rapunzel Isabelle Corona."


	4. Chapter 4

**Taking a break from writing Till Spring Arrives for this. Hope you guys can forgive my lateness on this. Thank you to those who reviewed and please enjoy this chapter. Leave a review, if you would!**

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**_Fragile_**

**_-God Is An Astronaut_**

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Rapunzel jerked back as if she had been electrocuted. "How do you know my name?"

Jack smiled. "I looked through your past," he replied simply.

She felt suddenly violated, her past exposed to this strange…creature, who merely opened it up like a refrigerator door, casually peeking in to search its contents without her permission. A burst of anger and indignation flared in her chest.

"You can't just go poking your head through people's lives," she said, crossing her arms over her chest so that she didn't feel so expose in front of him. He smirked, seeming to mock her.

"Oh, but I can, and I did," Jack said in an annoying sing song voice.

Rapunzel glared but decided to let it slide. She had more pressing issues to handle.

"If I let you go, will you promise never to come back and disturb me ever again?"

His smirk disappeared, replaced by a panic look in his eyes. "I…I can't keep that promise."

She bit her lip, staring at the floor. She also hadn't expected to elicit that respond from him. This frustrated Rapunzel to an extent where she felt like smacking her fist into the couch. She had always been good at reading people but with this…guy…she kept up drawing a blank.

She didn't even know if he was even all that right in his head.

The blonde got up, her long ponytail thumping against her back and strode to the kitchen to retrieve a pair of scissors. She walked up to him, sharp edges poised by his wrists, cutting the tape away in one swift, deft motion.

He rubbed his wrists, touching a free hand to his still swollen temple. Jack gave her an impish grin. "That's quite a hit you got there."

She grimaced. "Sorry."

He shook his head, giving her a benevolent smile as he eyed the place with quiet wonder.

"I was thinking…when you stopped me from calling the police did you really…d-did you really fly?" she asked, tripping over her words in hesitation.

She watched as Jack's feet lifted from the ground, seemingly suspended by invisible puppet strings. She gaped and he smirked again, touching back down the ground lightly.

"I think it's pretty obvious."

Her knees were knocking against each other and without warning; she pitched forward, causing Jack to catch her before she hit the ground.

"I don't think I was supposed to see that," she said weakly. Jack noted that she looked a little green around the edges.

"Are you alright?" he asked cautiously, laying her back down onto the sofa. "I mean, you were the one that asked."

For the first time since they met, Rapunzel smiled, albeit hesitantly. "My bad, then," she said with a chuckle. Jack found her laugh to be strangely fascinating, despite how weak it sounded.

"Could you – could you just help me to my room?" she asked, lifting a hand up. He took it gingerly, afraid how she might react to his touch. If she felt something off about his unnaturally cool temperature she didn't remark on it, leaning heavily against him.

She steered him toward a simple, single bed room and told him to leave her here, to meet her in the morning if this was not some crazy, sleep deprived dream her tired mind was concocting.

Jack agreed, watching as she closed the door, not quite looking him in the eye. He turned back to the living room, striding to the couch and sitting on its plush cushion.

He didn't know his sudden transition to human state included the need to sleep but he closed his eyes anyway, if not only to feel the darkness surrounding him like a blanket of calm.

Too soon, dim light flooded his eyelids and Jack opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Rapunzel's apartment had an amazing view of a sunrise, the rays coloring the sky rose gold, lilac and a light pink, peeking out from behind the skyline like a spotlight out of a jagged row of teeth.

The sight took his breath away.

That was how Rapunzel found him hours later, his eyes glued to the city beyond, wide with an innocence she never expected to see in a man his age. She studied him carefully, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers as she contemplated.

Should she really trust him? Should she even consider trusting him?

Rapunzel cleared her throat and she watched as Jack came back to his senses, the wondrous light in his eyes dimming. He smiled and gestured outside.

"I've never seen the sunrise here, on other planets it's really different."

Her throat tightened at that thought. "How so different?" she managed to choke out.

"Well, for starters there's this one planet in this Universe that had three sunrises throughout the day and another planet I've been to had five-"

"You know what, forget I asked," she mumbled.

A crease appeared between Jack's brows as glanced at her. "Did I say something wrong?"

For a moment, she really did feel guilty for what she said. He was just amazed and didn't mean to frighten her with all the outer space-not-alone-in-this-universe talk.

"I'm sorry, it's just that…I forget sometimes that we're not the only ones in this universe," she admitted, walking up to him and staring out to the lightening sky. Tentatively, she put a hand on his shoulder and pointed to a skyscraper.

"You know that place?" He shook his head.

"Am I supposed to?"

Rapunzel smiled. "That's the tallest skyscraper in this city and there's where the main government office is located."

Jack squinted, trying to make out the details through the bright light. "It's awfully tall, I'll give it that."

They lapsed into a peaceful quiet but it wasn't a deafening silence, she found that it was strangely comfortable, the way how they didn't need to say anything and it wasn't…bad. It wasn't bad at all.

"It's strange, how I lingered here for three weeks and have not once seen a sunrise," Jack mused. "Or maybe I just didn't notice it, with being distracted and everything."

"I used to love sunrises," Rapunzel admitted. "It was something I observed whenever I felt the urge to paint."

"You paint?" Jack's expression conveyed genuine interest, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips that Rapunzel gave in and tugged him to her painting room.

"Yeah – c'mon, I'll show you." She led him to one of the apartment's spare rooms and he immediately knew that this room was the one which she spent the most time in. The walls were painted a light, powder pink, covered in abstract figures, natural scenery and flower motives.

Jack took it all in, impressed.

He watched as Rapunzel riffled through the pages of one of her thousands of scrapbooks with a look of concentration. The book looked well loved, judging from the various water stains on its cover and the dented imprints on the page.

She turned the book towards him, a sudden shy expression dawning on her features. "I'm not that good with my line art and my smudging is a little bit messy," she knew she was babbling, something she did whenever she was nervous but she couldn't help it. This was the first time someone was ever looking through her art.

"And maybe I might be off kilter about my subject placement-"

"It's perfect," Jack said; gesturing to a charcoal drawing of the sunrise he had just seen, only better, if that was possible.

She blushed and stared down at her toes, unable to form a coherent response without breaking into a fit of grateful giggles. Instead she grinned and rested one hip by her art table, watching as he flipped through the pages, the same look he had on while seeing the sunrise etched on his face.

It was a look of pure, undulated wonder.

"Your art is amazing," he breathed, glancing up at her in awe. A rush of pride filled her then, warming her up from the tips of her toes to her scalp.

He closed the book and then wandered to a painting hanging on the right wall, depicting the swirling colors of a galaxy. Jack gazed at the image, feeling a sense of nostalgia blooming in his heart. The last time he had seen a galaxy in motion was a thousand years ago, when he could still bear their haunting beauty without feeling the pang of loneliness stirring in his heart.

"I bet you see that every day," Rapunzel said softly, coming to stand beside him.

He shrugged. "Not every time."

She looked surprised. "Why? Have a schedule to keep while checking out other planets?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Maybe," he replied with a chuckle.

He stared at the painting again, feeling that same sense of cold loneliness piercing his soul like an icy shard, making him grimace. The sight was beautiful, but it reminded him too much of the time he spent alone out there, with nothing but his thoughts for company.

"It's just…I've never experienced this with somebody and almost memory I have is tinged with sadness," Jack said, one side of his mouth quirking up. "May seem strange but this sight is not half as beautiful as when you see it with someone."

Rapunzel didn't know what overcame her when she blurted out, "then show me." She covered her mouth, staring at him abashedly, waiting for him to rebuff her but he didn't.

A strange mixture of hesitation and hope lit up his expression. "Really?" he breathed. Her heart clenched when she recalled his words, how he had never felt love before and she finally understood.

He wasn't here because of love.

He was here because he wanted to see if he could be loved.

"Yeah," she replied, grinning. "Let's go to space."

"Let's not, you'll suffocate," Jack admonished, giving the room a scrutinizing gaze. "But I think I'll open up a portal here, if you don't mind off course," he added hastily.

"I wouldn't unless it involves sucking all of my things into space," she replied jokingly.

"No, I'll just place the portal as a view, we don't even have to leave this room," he promised, walking up to one of the painted walls.

Jack placed his palm on the plaster and Rapunzel held in her breath as she watched, enraptured, when an outline of a door started to form. He traced the air around it lightly, as if writing a delicate opening charm. The portal – Flume – if she remembered him saying it correctly, materialized, the sight beyond veiled in shimmering white vapor, forming a wall of protection against the other side.

He motioned for her to sit and she did, bracing herself.

"Are you ready?"

Was she really? Was she really ready to admit to herself that she was starting to embrace this craziness? Was she starting to think that all this was real? That her planet was nothing but a speck of dust in this frighteningly vast existence?

"Yes," she whispered and he smiled, touching the shimmering veil lightly. It twisted and turned, as if made up of tiny writhing snakes and she could see the hazy version of her painting forming around the Flume's images.

Jack sat beside her, his posture tense, face bright with excitement.

"Here we go," he whispered and unconsciously, she grasped his hand beside hers.

Light emanated from the portal, making her cover her eyes, the bright glare leaving shadowy imprints behind her lids. All too soon the light faded, settling into a faint glow and Rapunzel opened her eyes.

She gasped, amazed at what she saw.

"What in the…_world?_"


End file.
